Just Finished Reading Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson

In my mind, I had already put fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson on something like a pedestal after reading his Mistborn series, not to mention the incredible way he managed to finish the late Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series.  So when I heard that he had begun a new, long fantasy series I jumped right on into it, in spite of being a little burned out on the genre from having read so much of it recently.  Sanderson's current project is The Stormlight Archive, and he has only written two books in it so far.  A while back I read Book # 1, titled The Way of Kings.  And now I've just finished the second one, a monstrously long book (1088 pages) called Words of Radiance...

Like many other writers in the fantasy and science fiction genres, Brandon Sanderson has created his own special universe in which special rules and sciences apply.  In Mistborn, the characters who were "allomancers" could burn within themselves various metals that they had ingested, giving them special powers in the process.  In the universe of Words of Radiance, gemstones, light emanating from conscious superstorms (hence "stormlight" in the series title), and cognitive entities called "spren" impart to the heroes (and their foes) enhanced abilities.  Aside from the "science", Sanderson also depicts the societies with their own norms, taboos, and prejudices...very allegorical to what we have in our own real world.  For example, people with light-colored eyes are treated as a "higher" order than those with dark eyes, clearly an analog to how folks have been judged by their skin color here.  And with women, one of their hands is designated as the "safe hand", which must always be concealed in the presence of others...what rules of modesty do we practice in our world that might seem irrational to another brought up in a different culture?  Also, in Sanderson's world, reading, writing, and scholarship are reserved almost exclusively for women...men are continually having to look for women to read to them since they are mostly illiterate...

The three main protagonists through which the narrative is usually told are still Kaladin, Shallan, and Dalinar...as they were in the first book.  The narrative builds up throughout Words of Radiance to a showdown in the Broken Plains between the forces of humanity, led by Dalinar, and the Parshendi, humanoids who possess the ability to transform themselves into different forms...with the latest manifestation being of a very sinister nature.  Some of the human characters are also finding themselves transforming into something new...yet old as well: the Knights Radiant, who in millenia past had defended the world against the Void-Bringers, agents of darkness which the Parshendi increasingly seem to be...

This series contains a lot of prophecy and history, often cryptically written or spoken, as is usually the case in this genre.  Dreams and their interpretations figure into the story, another standard feature.  In spite of all of the innovative features of his new series, above everything I like the way Brandon Sanderson deeply developed his characters to show their personalities, histories, and ongoing struggles.  I'm looking forward to the next book, set to come out next year...